Nine Years Later—The Road To M CON’s Class 1 World Title
When the 2024 Class 1 World Championship chase ended abruptly as the St. Petersburg Grand Prix in Southwest Florida was canceled ahead of Hurricane Milton this month, speedonthewater.com reported that the series-points-leading Monster Energy/M CON team of Tyler Miller and Myrick Coil was the de facto Class 1 series champ ahead of the Defalco and df Young/Good Boy Vodka teams. This morning, Powerboat P1, the producer of the Union Internationale Motonautique-sanctioned Class 1 series, confirmed that early reporting in a press release.
The Monster Energy/M CON team heads into Key West, Fla., next month with the 2024 UIM Class 1 World Championship under its belt. Photos by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.
In response to the official announcement from Powerboat P1, Miller quoted Theodore Roosevelt from the former United States president’s famed “Man In The Arena” speech in Paris in 1910.
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood,” Roosevelt said to the crowd at the Sorbonne, the venue where he gave the well-known speech.
Added Miller, “This is the Monster Energy/M CON Racing team captured in one sentence.”
First and foremost, the success of the Class 1 Monster Energy/M CON team is a total team effort.
Miller also praised his wife, Lindsey, for supporting him “every step of the way,” and Coil for “being an absolute professional behind the wheel with such a positive mentality.”
When Miller entered the sport nine years ago, he hadn’t even heard of Class 1. He started in the Super Cat-class ranks with his cousin, Brett, a noted orthopedic surgeon and longtime performance-boating enthusiast. Brett Miller exited the sport after a hard crash left him concerned for the tools of his profession—his hands. Soon after, Tyler Miller joined forces with Coil, an equally tenacious yet mellow guy.
On their way to four Super Cat-class national titles and one world championship, there were plenty of losses and aggravations, millions of dollars spent and countless hours, many of them away from home and family, for the M CON team.
The Monster Energy/M CON team always put on a strong performance for its home-water fans at the Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri. Photo by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos.
Three years ago, the M CON team announced it was joining the Class 1 ranks. Miller commissioned Skater Powerboats to build a 42-foot Class 1 raceboat powered by spec Mercury Racing 1100 engines for the 2022 season. Six months before that season began, the team secured Monster Energy as its primary sponsor.
“Nine years ago, I had no clue—I had never heard of Class 1,” Miller recalled. “The first time I heard of Class 1 was in 2019. I didn’t pay much attention to it until probably three years ago.”
As Miller, Coil, crew chief Jake Leckliter and the rest of close-knit crew predicted, the first-season learning curve was steep. Just finishing races proved challenging. But the second year saw the Monster Energy/M CON team earn three podium finishes. The team had momentum.
Myrick and Missi Coil and Lindsey and Tyler Miller traveled to Seattle for the dynamic cockpit duo’s induction into the APBA Hall of Champions in 2023. Photo courtesy M CON Racing.
For the 2024 season, the Monster Energy/M CON team bucked conventional Class 1 wisdom, abandoned their shaft drives and replaced them with Mercury Racing No. 6 drives. Miller and Coil were more familiar with the No. 6 propulsion units through their ongoing Super Cat-class campaign, and they hoped to capitalize on their experience.
Now Miller and his entire team—a point he never fails to emphasize—are Class 1 world champions.
Though they hope to finish at the top of the six-boat Class 1 fleet in the Race World Offshore Key West World Championships November 3-10, earning the 2024 UIM Class 1 World Championship already is far and away the highlight of the season. That won’t change even if they notched a first-place overall result in Key West.
The Class 1 Monster Energy/M CON raceboat will once again be the centerpiece at the 2024 Speed On The Water Key West Bash next month. Photo by Jeff Helmkamp copyright Helmkamp Photos.
“We’re excited to get to Key West with the largest Class 1 boat-count we’ve had all year,” Miller explained. “The old saying goes, ‘To be the best you have to finish first in Key West,’ and I wouldn’t take anything away from that. It’s going to be amazing.
“But the Class 1 series is the crown jewel of it all,” he continued. “To keep the boat together through all the ups and downs for five races at different venues and string it all together through the course of a season, that is a true championship. It’s pretty spectacular.”
Miller (right) and Coil started their offshore racing partnership in the Super Cat class. Photo by Cole McGowan copyright Powerboat P1.
The Millers and the Coils will be invited to the UIM Awards Gala in Monaco next year to receive the Sam Griffith Trophy. The honor is named for the famed competitor, who in the 1950s earned four victories in the Miami-Nassau endurance race that “signaled the beginnings” of modern offshore racing.
“M CON Racing is one of the most professionally run teams in offshore racing and they are always looking to break new ground in promoting and marketing the team,” said Azam Rangoonwala, the chief executive officer of Powerboat P1, in the release. “Tyler and Lindsey Miller bring to the sport the outstanding energy and skills they demonstrate in running their successful M CON company.”
Captured here at the 2023 Midwest Challenge, the Monster Energy/M CON Skater remains the youngest boat in the fleet. Photo by Brad DiMaggio copyright Scrapyard Media.
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